


Sleepless

by pictureswithboxes



Series: Armageddon [2]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 19:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10883823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pictureswithboxes/pseuds/pictureswithboxes
Summary: Being with Kimberly leaves little time for sleep. Takes place a few months after Armageddon.





	Sleepless

“Guess what.” Trini said quietly, smiling widely.

She and Zack were sitting on Armageddon’s hood at the mine, she didn’t care if they dented it, eating a bag of chips that Zack had stashed in her trunk at some point. Zack had needed to be alone for a few hours, and Trini was always ready to pick Zack up when he needed it. So there they sat, watching the sun set on Angel Grove, it had a way of making Trini feel so small. And also so powerful, she and the others saved this town, and yet none of them ever talked about that. 

“What?” Zack asked, glancing over at Trini. 

“I’m dating Kimberly Hart.” Trini replied, earning an exaggerated eyeroll from Zack.

“It has been two months.” Zack said in the most serious voice that he could muster. “Will you ever shut up about dating Kim?”

“No.” Trini shook her head and laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ever shut up about her.”

“God, you’re gay.” Zack said through a mouthful of chips. 

“Yep.” Trini nodded. “And I’m dating Kimberly Hart.”

“And yet you make time to hang out with little old me.” Zack replied, pretending to be flattered. “I cannot believe you’d give up a standing date with such a lovely girl just to spend time with me.”

“Shut up, or I’ll run you over.” Trini shoved Zack hard, knocking him over and grabbing the chip bag. 

“Jesus, you’re a jerk.” Zack replied from the ground. “Is this how you are with Kim?”

“Kim’s much cuter than you, so I’m a little nicer.” Trini winked.

“I don’t want to know what that even means.”

“You really don’t.”

They sat there together for a long time, just watching the city and chatting about nothing. It was easy and light, they purposely avoided any heavy topics, neither of them needed that. Zack was quiet for a while, it was weird for him to be quiet for more than the ten seconds it takes for him to come up with some kind of witty remark. 

“You okay?” Trini asked, casting his a sidelong glance. 

“Just thinking about you and Kim.” Zack shrugged, smiling a little. 

“Ew.” 

“Not like that, don’t be gross. You’re both like my sisters.”

“Then what were you thinking about?”

“You should have Kim meet your parents.”

“You’ve all met my parents.” Trini scoffed. 

“You know what I mean.” Zack sighed, gently bumping Trini’s shoulder. “My mom made me promise to introduce her to the next person I start dating. And, it just got me thinking. About parents and stuff, and Kim is basically catnip for parents, you can’t go wrong introducing her as your girlfriend.”

“They know I’m dating Kim.” Trini said, earning a surprised look from Zack. “What?”

“You don’t talk to your parents, though.” Zack replied with a furrowed brow.

“Kim’s mom thought it would be a good idea for our families to meet after she caught me and Kim together. In her room. At like two in the morning.” Trini sighed, she knew Zack could guess what they were doing. “So... she set up a dinner with our families to discuss it. It was horrifying and... it sucked.”

“Why didn’t you guys tell us?” 

“We don’t tell each other everything.”

“Yes we do.”

“No we don’t.”

“Yes we do!” Zack exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “We even told each other our childhood fears, I told you about how I used to be afraid of my mom’s cheese grater. And you told me how you were afraid of lightning!”

“It is electricity in the sky!” Trini snapped, crossing her arms. 

“You’re not still afraid of lightning, are you?” Zack smirked.

“There are so a lot scarier things in the world than electricity in the sky.” Trini replied, rolling her eyes. 

“And my mom’s cheese grater.”

“No, that thing’s terrifying. You were right to be afraid of it.”

“It looks like it has a face, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

* * *

“I really have to go home, soon.”

“One more kiss.”

They were lying on Kimberly’s bed, and had been for the past two hours. Kimberly’s parents were out of town, and they weren’t supposed to be alone in each others’ houses together. Not since Mrs. Hart had caught them together at two in the morning after hearing “some kind of ruckus.” It made for a more than awkward meeting between their families, Trini really wished that Mrs. Hart had done something less horrible to the both of them. A simple phone call would have been fine, but Mrs. Hart wanted them to learn a lesson. Trini was pretty sure it was obvious that they hadn’t learned any lessons. Other than stealth, of course, but that probably wasn’t the lesson Mrs. Hart had in mind.

“If I’m too late, my parents will know I’m here and not with Zack anymore.” Trini replied, kissing Kimberly quickly. 

“If you’re too on time your parents will know you were here.” Kimberly grinned, pulling Trini down into another kiss. “You always get home late when you hang out with Zack. I’m the one who makes sure you go home early. And why do you have to be home at eleven? It’s Friday.”

“My curfew’s always been eleven.” Trini said, her breath hitching when she felt Kimberly’s hand slip under her shirt. “I’ve just always ignored it.”

“So why stop now?” Kimberly murmured into Trini’s neck, Trini shivered at the feeling of Kimberly’s breath on her neck. 

“Because if I’m grounded, my parents will call your parents, and I won’t even be able to sneak out to see you.” Trini replied, her mouth went dry as Kimberly began to kiss her neck. “B-because your parents will have the place locked down. Listening through your door.” 

Kimberly laughed. “So you’re on your best behavior for me?” 

“No, I’m on my best behavior for us.” Trini replied, pulling away a little to look Kimberly in the eye. “Because someone has to. Or else we’ll never see each other again and I’ll be stuck spending all my Friday nights with my mom watching some lame-ass movies and having to listen to my mom lecture me about responsibility and following the rules.” 

“This is so much better than that.” Kimberly smirked, biting her lip. 

“Being stabbed a thousand times is better than a lecture from my mom.” Trini rolled her eyes. “So please don’t let me be late.”

“But I wanna be with you.” Kimberly murmured. Trini felt her heart melt, she was gonna be trapped in Kimberly’s bedroom until the end of time. She just knew it. “Please, just a few more minutes?”

Trini looked at Kimberly’s alarm clock, it was ten forty-five. Kimberly’s house was ten minutes away from hers. Seven if Trini drove fast. Trini was probably going to have to drive fast.    
“Fine,” She mumbled, kissing Kimberly quickly. “I can do five more minutes.”

“Just five?” Kimberly pulled Trini closer. 

“Just five.” Trini replied with a nod. She was pretty sure that her statement lacked conviction. It was hard to not give Kimberly everything she wanted.

Kimberly was quiet for a moment before, leaning up again. “Okay, I’ll just have to make those five minutes count.” 

And so she did. Trini only had time to think about what kind of clever comment she was gonna make before Kimberly was all over her. Kissing Kimberly was always so intoxicating, Trini could never get enough of her. How good it Kimberly’s hands felt, how soft Kimberly’s lips were, how Kimberly always found a way to pull Trini closer, even when it seemed impossible. Trini was forever grateful for her ranger powers, she could go so much longer without breathing. 

Kimberly pulled away after a while, grinning widely and looking pointedly at the clock. It had been five minutes. Trini was torn, she knew that Kimberly was teasing her. That Kimberly was probably going to get her way, and Trini was going to spend her entire weekend trapped with her mother and her lectures. One look at Kimberly’s face, she was obviously only pretending to be disappointed. And yet it was still working. 

“I really have to go.” Trini sighed, she had no willpower whatsoever. At all. “My mom will kill me, I can’t even sneak in through the window. She saw me leave.”

Kimberly sighed and scooted up. “Fine, go. Leave me alone in this big house all night.”

Trini felt her heart clench. They sat there for a moment. Silent. Oh how Trini wished she never had to leave. It felt almost criminal. Letting out a sigh, Trini stood up and headed to the window. It was much more convenient than the door. 

Then it dawned on her. Trini stared at the window for a moment before turning back to Kimberly, smiling a little. “Why don’t I just sneak out after I get home?”

“We’re literally so stupid.” Kimberly fell back into her pillows and laughed. 

“I’ll be right back.” Trini grinned and moved back to the bed, pecking Kimberly on the lips quickly. Knowing that she was going to be back as soon as she could made it much easier to leave. “Leave your window open.”

“Hurry back.” Kimberly replied quietly. 

“As soon as my parents are asleep.” Trini crossed her heart. “Promise.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know.” Trini smiled widely before hopping out the window and onto the tree branch outside Kimberly’s window. 

“You can just use the front door, you know.” Kimberly called, making Trini laugh as she scaled down the tree. 

“It’s not as fun!” Trini yelled back. 

* * *

Trini was used to sneaking around at night to spend time with Kimberly. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, climbing was really easy, and Kimberly always left her window unlocked. Not that Trini couldn’t get in if it weren’t. The only difficult thing about sneaking into Kimberly’s house was getting home before her parents woke up and noticed her missing.

Throwing on her sweatshirt, Trini glanced at the clock. It was almost five thirty in the morning, and she didn’t have to leave for detention until eight-thirty. But she had to account for any emergency. For all she knew, her parents were already awake. Waiting for her to come home and ground her for the foreseeable future. Trini ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face before leaning down and kissing Kimberly quickly. 

“I’ll pick you up for detention later.” Kimberly mumbled, leaning up to kiss back. 

“I can’t wait.” Trini smiled as Kimberly sat up. 

“You should get going,” Kimberly replied, stretching a little. “I can’t have you trapped on the couch with your mom all weekend.”

“For sneaking out, I’d probably be sent to my  _ abuela _ ’s.” Trini said, moving away from the bed and slipping on her shoes. “I’d be trapped in her house, forced to eat  _ rfijoles  _ until I die.”

“You said your grandma was a good cook.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to eat leftovers out of old butter containers for the rest of my life.” 

“Then go.”

Trini sighed and sat on Kimberly’s windowsill. “But I’ll miss you.” 

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Shut up and go.”

“And what if I don’t go?” Trini smirked. “You gonna push me like you pushed me off that cliff?”

Kimberly smiled a little, the same way she smiled when she had thrown Trini into the ravine, and climbed off the bed. Trini leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she tried to look confident. She knew that Kimberly was going to push her. She just knew it.

“I just think I might.” Kimberly said softly, pressing a soft kiss to Trini’s neck. 

“I don’t think you will.” Trini mentally high-fived herself for not stuttering. She was really growing as a person.

“I’m really sorry about this.” And then Kimberly pushed Trini out the window. 

Trini looked up at Kimberly, who was leaning out, smiling that stupid, smug smile that made Trini want to climb back up there. She wasn’t sure what she would do what she got back up, or try to do at least. In reality, Kimberly would probably just push her down again, but that didn’t stop Trini from considering it. 

“Go home.” Kimberly called down with a laugh. “You’re no use to me if you’re grounded.”

Trini sighed and shook her head, smiling up at Kimberly. “See you later.”

Running home took maybe five minutes, it was much faster than driving, and Trini never had to stick to the roads either. She came sprinting through her backyard before taking a leap at her bedroom window. After taking a deep breath, Trini peeked through, making sure the coast was clear, and climbed inside. Trini stretched a little and closed the window as quietly as she could before getting changed and flopping onto her bed face first. 

She laid there tiredly for a while. It was safe to say that Trini hadn’t gotten the best sleep the night before, and she probably wouldn’t tonight either. Not that she minded at all. Spending time with Kimberly was better than sleeping. 

It felt like she’d only closed her eyes for a minute when there was a loud “Thud” outside her door, followed by one of her brothers shouting indignantly. Trini was too tired to even care which one had yelled, she pulled the blankets over her head and tried to tune out the argument that had begun. 

“That’s enough!” She heard her dad exclaim. 

Trini reached under her pillow and glared at her phone, willing it to be any time earlier than eight, so she could go back to sleep. 

She should know by now that she was never that lucky. It was one minute until eight. Trini let out a low growl and rolled out of bed before turning off the alarm on her phone. One day, Trini was going to actually have a decent night’s sleep. It was probably never going to happen, but it was good to hope. 

There was a knock on her door, followed by her mother calling from the hallway. “Trini, Kimberly’s here for you.” She opened Trini’s door. “The door stays open.”

Trini looked at her mother with tired eyes, hoping to silently tell her that there was no way anything was going to happen until she got her solid four hour nap during detention.

“You look tired.” Her mother said quietly. “You should go to bed earlier.”

“Probably.” Trini nodded, she wanted to say something mean or sarcastic, but she’d just woken up and couldn’t think of anything. 

“I’ll just tell her you’re getting dressed, then...”Her mom looked confused for a moment before nodding and closing the door. 

“Cool.” Trini sighed and rubbed her eyes before getting ready. 

It was lazy, Trini knew that, but it didn’t stop her from wearing last night’s eyeliner. Kimberly was probably sitting in the living room looking perfect, but then again, Kimberly wasn’t the one who had to run between houses at all hours of the night and morning. Then again, whenever Kimberly sneaked over, she still looked amazing the next day. Trini pretended that she didn’t just remember that and went back to touching up last night’s makeup. 

“Hey, you’re early.” Trini said when she walked into the living room. She was right, Kimberly was looking absolutely flawless. 

“Thought we’d wanna hang for a while before we went to pay off our debts to society.” Kimberly grinned, moving over on the sofa. “How’d you sleep?”

Trini sat down beside Kimberly and leaned into her a little. “First of all, it’s your debt I’m paying off. I don’t have to go to detention because I am an upstanding member of the community.” She moved out of the way when Kimberly tried to punch her in the arm. “And second, you know damn well that I slept like shit.”

“Well, I slept like a rock.” Kimberly quickly kissed the corner of Trini’s mouth. 

“A rock that kicks.” Trini mumbled, turning her head a little and kissing Kimberly. “You knocked me off the bed last night.”

“Well, shit.” Kimberly laughed a little, not looking apologetic at all. “Sorry about that. I’m pretty strong now.”

Trini rolled her eyes. “When do we have to get the boys?”

Kimberly looked at her phone quickly. “Well, detention starts at nine, and it’s almost eight-thirty, so we’re gonna have to leave soon.”

Trini groaned and threw her head back. “We should go before my mom makes you stay for breakfast.”

“Does she still not know you’re going to detention?”

“She thinks we’re all part of the yearbook club.”

* * *

Trini was a fool for thinking that she could squeeze in some kind of power nap, a complete fool. Not only had she forgotten to factor in the fact that Kimberly pretty much lived to pass notes during detention, but also the fact that Zack sat directly behind her and would kick the back of her seat for whatever reason he had. So there she sat, trying to nap, only to be beaned in the head by a tightly folded paper football or knocked forward when Zack kicked her chair.

She couldn’t even yell at Zack for kicking her, detention was meant for silent contemplation and homework. Unfortunately, she couldn’t even do her homework, she’d gotten all her homework done on Thursday when she and Kimberly were having a study-date, and nothing was assigned on Friday. Not even the “better choices” packet could help. She hadn’t done anything to get sent to detention. 

Though, Trini was sure that sneaking into detention was a punishable offence. Maybe. Trini’s brow furrowed, what was the worst thing that could happen if she were caught? Would they give her more detention? Probably. She was just proactively doing her time. That made sense. 

The back of Trini’s chair was kicked again, making her jolt up and whip around to glare at Zack. “I will kill you.” She hissed at him, turning back around only to see a note waiting on her desk. 

She glanced over at Kimberly, who was doing her best to pretend she hadn’t just been facing Trini. With a small smile, Trini unfolded the note, careful not to ruin the folds so she could copy them later. It was never one of her top priorities to learn how to properly fold a note, not that she ever had anyone to send them to. Trini shook her head, that was not a subject she felt like diving into in the middle of a Saturday detention. 

_ “Wanna hang at mine after training”  _ was what Kimberly had written. 

Trini looked over to where Kimberly was, she was watching out of the corner of her eye and doing a great job of looking bored as hell. They made eye contact and Trini nodded slightly before looking back to the paper. She quickly asked if Kimberly’s parents would be home that night and quickly folded the note back up. She’d almost gotten to down perfectly. 

After making sure Kimberly was paying attention, Trini threw the note quickly. 

Kimberly didn’t return the note, instead choosing to shake her head a little. Trini frowned a little and resolved to sleep over at Kimberly’s that night. Maybe she’d tell her parents that she was staying over at Billy’s. Or maybe Zack’s. Whoever would go along with the lie would do. Without all the running around and sneaking out, Trini might actually get to sleep. 

That was certainly a nice thought. 

A note whizzed toward her quicker than usual, Trini threw up her hand to catch it, narrowly avoiding being hit in the face. She glanced at Kimberly, who was trying her hardest not to laugh. Trini rolled her eyes at Kimberly and braced herself when she heard Zack gearing up to kick her again. He had to scoot closer since all of his kicks were slowly pushing her further away. 

Zack had decided to kick a lot harder than usual. It wasn’t surprising, Zack thrived on attention. More importantly, he thrived on her annoyance with him. And damn was Trini annoyed. She turned and glared at him. 

Zack grinned back when Trini flipped him off. 

“Why don’t you bother someone else?” She whispered. “Jason and Billy look pretty happy, don’t you think you throw rocks at them or something?”

Zack shrugged. “I don’t carry rocks in my pockets.”

Trini groaned and turned back to look at the note Kimberly had thrown at her. 

_ “pack a bag”  _

* * *

After training with everyone, Trini had rushed home to shower and pack a bag. She narrowly dodged her mom’s questions about where she was going, casually telling her that she was planning on spending the night at Zack’s house. Trini didn’t give her mother the time to dig deeper into her plans and find out where the lie was. It was definitely the best way to do things, Trini made a mental note to employ this tactic more often.

“I’m literally so tired.” Trini muttered, sitting down on Kimberly’s sofa. 

“Same.” Kimberly plopped down beside Trini. “Maybe we should just stick to Facetime.”

“Maybe, but then I’d have to go home and that would be more work.” Trini leaned over and pecked Kimberly on the lips quickly. “Next weekend, cool?”

“Definitely.” Kimberly grinned. 

They sat there for a while, watching The Office reruns and pointing out which characters reminded them of the other Rangers. Trini even went so far as to call Zack and tell him that he reminded her of Steve Carrel’s character, hanging up before he could protest. Apparently Kimberly found that so funny that she decided to call Jason and do the same thing to him. Jason was so unamused that he had called Kimberly back to ask her what he’d done to deserve it. 

“That was a bad decision.” Kimberly said, hanging up after reassuring Jason that he in no way resembled Michael Scott. Despite their shared last name. “I think I broke that poor kid.”

“Mistakes were definitely made.” Trini replied, glancing at her phone and choosing to ignore the many texts that Zack was sending her. “I really don’t regret bothering Zack at all. This’ll keep him up all night.”

“And you’ll sleep like a baby?”

“No. I’ll sleep like an idiot who got kicked onto the floor by her girlfriend who kicks in her sleep. While she’s sleeping like a baby.”

Kimberly leaned over and straddled Trini, leaning over her. Trini looked up at her girlfriend and her mouth went dry, Kimberly was the most beautiful person Trini had ever met. It took her a moment to take in all of Kimberly, she felt her lips quirk up into a smile. She could hardly believe Kimberly was even real, let alone that Kimberly would even want her. 

Trini made a mental note to address that problem when she got home. Now was not the time.

A small, confused smile formed on Kimberly’s face. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just...” Trini paused for a moment. “I... You’re just really beautiful.”

“So are you.” Kimberly pressed a kiss to Trini’s lips. 

“And I’m also really gay.” Trini replied, kissing Kimberly again. 

“I never could’ve guessed.” Kimberly rolled her eyes. 

“Maybe it was all that time I spent kissing girls?”

“Definitely could be a factor.”

“How could we have missed that?”

“You do wear a lot of flannel.”

Trini laughed. “Well, you’re always borrowing my flannel, so I guess you’re a little gay too.”

Kimberly’s brow furrowed. “I also have a girlfriend. Who I kiss. On the regular.”

“On the regular?”

“Yes. On the regular. It’s a phrase I use all the time.”

“So you say it on the regular, then?” 

Kimberly laughed and leaned forward to kiss Trini again. “Shut up.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll shut you up.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah really.”

Before Trini could reply, Kimberly leaned down, cupped Trini’s cheeks, and kissed her deeply. Trini put her hands on Kimberly’s waist and idly noted that Kimberly definitely did manage to shut her up. Laughing to herself a little, Trini leaned up and kissed Kimberly back. She slipped her hands underneath Kimberly’s shirt, pulling her a little closer. Suddenly Trini didn’t feel so tired anymore. 

“I told you I could get you to shut up.” Kimberly mumbled, pulling away a little and biting her lip. 

Trini opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. “I... yeah...”

Weeks ago, Trini had decided to figure out a way to keep her brain from short circuiting whenever Kimberly kissed her. Apparently today was not that day. Trini wasn’t too broken up about it though. One day, she’d get it down. One day. 

“You’re cute.” Kimberly grinned, pecking Trini’s lips. 

Trini laughed a little. “Shut up.”

“You are!”

They hung out for a while, with Kimberly lying across her lap and watching the show together. Trini played with Kimberly’s hair, not taking her eyes off the TV other than to send Kimberly short glances and smiles. Kimberly was the best, Trini decided as the sun went down. She would never get tired of days like this. 

Kimberly eventually fell asleep. Trini had to admit that she was a little jealous, but it was only for a minute. She leaned down and kissed Kimberly’s forehead, smiling a little when Kimberly didn’t stir at all.

“I think I love you.” Trini whispered, looking down at Kimberly nervously. 

She didn’t wake up. 

Trini let out a relieved laugh. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She repeated the phrase a few times. It felt so good to say outloud. Trini smiled widely. 

One day she would say it when Kimberly was awake. Maybe. Probably. 


End file.
